


My Dear Speaker

by NotLikeYouThink



Series: Elder Scrolls One-Shots [6]
Category: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Genre: Arquen's an Asshole, Death, Other, Skinning, Skinning Mention, Someone Gets Skinned, Tumblr Prompt, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 01:54:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15741741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotLikeYouThink/pseuds/NotLikeYouThink
Summary: It was no secret that you had a crush on the Black Hand Speaker, Lucien Lachance





	My Dear Speaker

It was no secret that you had a crush on the Black Hand Speaker, Lucien Lachance. Ever since he had appeared in you room in the middle of the night, after you killed that guy in Leyawiin for sticking his hand into your pocket, you had been entranced by the assassin. His husky voice, his handsome face—you found him enticing, and you had no problem with that.

There had been a year where you hadn’t seen him, and that had been your first—and only—year in the Dark Brotherhood. It was obvious that none of the members of the Black Hand resided in the Cheydinhal Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, as they were the shadowy part of the shadowy organisation, working from the shadows for the Night Mother and Sithis and the Listener.

And then you had gotten the note from him, telling you to meet him in a fort easy of Cheydinhal. You had been giddy, wondering why he wanted to meet him, at the prospect of seeing him again. You had even done your hair nicely, but that had been in vain because you had to fight through an undead-infested fort before you got to see him, and by the time that happened you were dishevelled and in a bad mood.

Your mood worsened when he told you to kill everyone in the Brotherhood.

But you did, not wanting to anger Sithis, and you became a Silencer.  _His_ Silencer. And, despite the fact that the two of you were only supposed to be in contact via letters, you had gone back to the fort twice, and the two of you had grown closer. You were friends, and you had hoped to soon become more.

But he told you not to come back to the fort, only do what his dead drop letters told you to do, and you did. You stayed away, no matter what your heart wanted, and dived into the contracts he gave you. You killed the Draconis family, the Khajiit J’Ghasta, and more.

Then came the fateful day that the two of you reunited, but it was not what you expected. You had just killed the Bosmer Ungolim, his dead body lying at your feet, when you heard someone swearing rather loudly, and you turned to see him standing there, a mask of anger on his face.

He called you a traitor, accusing you of things you hadn’t done. Then he stopped himself, seeing you confused, and realised that you had been tricked. He instructed you to find who the real traitor was, telling you to meet him in Applewatch once you did.

So you did. You went to Anvil, the location of the next dead drop, and bullied the man who dropped it off into telling you who was giving him the letters and money, leading you to the Anvil Lighthouse. There you found the preserved head of a woman, and a diary with crazy ramblings, and you found that to be enough evidence to show Lucien.

You realised something was wrong the second you stepped inside Applewatch’s gate. There was a thickness in the air, the smell of death coming from the wooden shack, and not because of the Draconis family’s mother, who had been buried a month prior next to her children.

When you opened the door to the farm, you first saw the black robes Lucien always wore, and you were relieved. But then you saw that there were more of them in the one-roomed house, and you saw the body hanging upside from the roof by its ankles, and you threw up in the corner, it’s flesh peeled away leaving its muscles and sinews on full display.

“What’s going on?” you asked. “Where’s Lucien?”

An Altmer woman smiled down at you. “The traitor? He won’t be harming the Dark Brotherhood any more.”

It took you a second to understand the words she had said. When they finally registered, you couldn’t do anything—only state at the skinned body, the body you now knew was Lucien Lachance, and a sob ran through your body as you whispered  _no_.

You fell to the floor, your knees giving out under you, continuing to mutter  _no, no, no!_

_Please, you can’t die! I only just got you back!_

The Altmer seemed confused. “Why are you crying? The traitor is dead.”

“He wasn’t the traitor,” you managed to get out between your sobs.

“You’re just blinded by the fact that you were his Silencer. We do not blame you for what you did. He was manipulating you,” she said. “You don’t have to defend him anymore.”

“I have proof.”

She only shook her head. “We are in need of a new Listener. We will travel to Bravil once night sets, and you will come with us.”

You didn’t say anything.


End file.
